Post by robertrives on Jul 12, 2015 8:42:00 GMT -5

Starting on either July 22nd or July 29th, 2015 (depending on long-range forecasts), I will begin a self-supported fastpacking effort on the 165-mile Cohos Trail in northern New Hampshire. To my knowledge, no specific speed efforts have ever been attempted on this trail, with the current FKT being somewhere in the range of nine days according to the Cohos Trail website. I am aiming to take four days on the trail, carrying a 25-liter pack and resupplying from pre-set caches at five road crossings. I am hoping to have live SPOT tracking capabilities while on the trail. This effort is a part of the Humanity Running project, which aims to connect notable running efforts with environmental and humanitarian issues faced by local communities. Here are the details for the Cohos Trail effort.

I'll be posting planning updates to the Humanity Running blog as the start dates get closer. Thanks for reading!

UPDATE: Starting on the 22nd, around 7AM. You can follow my SPOT track (in 24-hour intervals, I believe) here: tinyurl.com/cohostrail

Post by robertrives on Jul 25, 2015 21:37:01 GMT -5

Thanks! I'll be writing up a report with photos soon; my total time was 2d18h on the nose. The Cohos Trail is one wild, wet, remote beast of a path! Except for some obvious spots in the southern Presidential area, I was almost always alone. It was a really special and different wilderness experience, a stark contrast to a typical outing in the Whites. Have fun getting after it!

Post by mmcduffie on Jun 7, 2016 7:08:41 GMT -5

Starting Friday morning I am going to try and give the trail a go in unsupported-ish fast-packing style. I'll have all my food on me from the start but I will also have people meeting me at spots to make sure I am still alive. Best case scenario I finish under 72 hours...

Post by chrisacree on Oct 27, 2016 20:33:05 GMT -5

Hey! I'm planning to attempt a fastpack of the CT starting pre-dawn (probably ~3-4AM) this Sunday, October 30. I'll be self-supported, using supply caches planted the day before. The goal is to complete it in a continual effort, somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 hours, though sleep might prove necessary at some point. SPOT tracking should work, unless I've erred somewhere in the setup, my first time with one of these.

Update: Abandoned attempt very early on, considerably more snow than I was expecting, even in the lower areas, looks like I waited too long this year. Also, had some navigational difficulty on Davis Path about 5 miles in, could have been related to snow covering some markings on the rock faces, but altogether seems better to wait till Spring to give it another shot.

Post by mmcduffie on Jun 15, 2017 18:52:55 GMT -5

I made my third and likely final attempt for quite some time at an unsupported sufferpacking of the Cohos. Made it to Young's and realized I wasn't going to have more than a few hershey's bars to get me the last ~30 so I had to buy food. Phoned it in after that.